Earth Angel
by JulesFire
Summary: T'was the night before Christmas and in Titan's Tower, two friends changed forever in just a few hours...lol. A very special Christmas Eve, with some fake snow, a few tears, and slow dancing. RS, of course.
1. Stealthy Santa

_The other chapters are longer… this is just kind of an intro. This is just a fun, silly little Christmas story. Hope you like it! (I tried to fix the formatting problems of this chapter)._

_Disclaimer: I don't own TT. Or Santa Claus._

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Robin stopped in front of Starfire's door, linen sack in tow. This was the last stop. He had already snuck into Cyborg's, Beast Boy's, and Raven's rooms (though that last trip was not made without a little apprehension) to fill their stockings. Now, for the first time, he would extend the tradition to his favorite alien, who had joined his team nearly a year before. 

Of course, no one on the team still believed in Santa Claus. They were all sixteen, after all. Beast Boy had gotten Starfire believing in the legend for a full 3 hours a week ago, but Robin had found her afterwards and set her straight. He adored her childlike innocence, but felt it his responsibility to keep her aware of the truth. She had been rather disappointed, of course, but her heart had lightened when she discovered that the gifts would be given amongst themselves rather than by "an over-nourished stranger who steers flying caribou and enters domiciles through smoke ventilation systems."

In any case, despite the team's awareness of the nonexistence of Santa, it was tradition for Robin to slink about the tower on Christmas Eve, entering bedrooms, filling stockings, and eating the milk and cookies in the kitchen without getting caught on the security cameras (Cyborg had invented the challenge; if Robin could avoid getting caught, the team made chocolate-chip waffles and fruit salad for his Christmas breakfast the next morning. If he could not, he was responsible for cooking breakfast, as usual). So far, in all three years, Robin had never been caught on tape for a single instant on Christmas Eve.

'It's a gift,' he whispered to himself with a smile, ducking just as a camera swiveled his way and punching the pass code into Star's keypad at lightning speed. He was in, with the door closed, before the camera made its second round.

'4 years running,' he thought smugly, waiting for his eyes to adjust to the darkness. He glanced toward Star's round, pink bed, perceiving a soft bulge near the center. Not even one of her luxuriant strands of auburn hair was visible from underneath the voluminous comforter. He smiled to himself; she must have been freezing when she went to bed that night, to have bundled herself up so completely. Stealthily, he made his way to the foot of Star's bed, where he had placed a purple velvet stocking earlier that day. One by one, he loaded his gifts to her into her stocking: a DVD of _Breakfast at Tiffany's, _a warehouse-sized bottle of mustard with a green ribbon tied around it, a small bottle of perfume (the light, vanilla-citrus scent had instantly reminded him of her), and her ornament.

The tree in the Titan's common room was decorated in white lights and silver tinsel, and adorned with plain silver bulbs. The only feature that made it unique was the fact that 4 ornaments hung on its branches that did not match the silver ones – a special ornament for each Titan. It had become a sort of Christmas initiation ritual for them. Beast Boy's was a glittering green reindeer with wire antlers; Cyborg's was an onyx-black train engine with frosted-glass smoke; Raven's was a blown-glass, lavender dove holding a tiny black rose in its beak; and Robin's was a wreath made of dried vines, wrapped in burgundy and gold ribbon and sprinkled with white glitter. Robin had had a difficult time finding the perfect ornament for Starfire; and now that he held it in his hand, crouched in the dark on the floor of her room, he wondered if he should give it to her at all. Losing his nerve, he examined her ornament.

An angel, of course. A porcelain angel, with shimmering red hair (he had searched every mall in the city for an angel with that hair color), a white satin gown, and a golden crown of innocence. It was perfect. Starfire was perfect.

The angel would not hang, like the other ornaments. It would go on top of the tree. It would hover over the others, protecting them. Robin could think of nothing more fitting. He worked up his courage and deposited the gift, hoping she would like it as much as he thought she would.

Finally, he was done, and he crept back toward the door, keeping close to the thick carpet as he did so. It was easy to be sneaky in Star's room; the floor cushioned his weight and silenced his movements. As he passed by her bed, which was eye-level in the position he was in, he let his gaze linger over the gentle swell in the blankets that he knew to be Starfire. Without really knowing why, Robin was suddenly overcome with a need to see her face on last time before he slept. He went up onto his knees, leaning lightly on the mattress. Haltingly, he reached a hand toward the top of the comforter to pull it down off of her face…

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_To be continued!_


	2. Mr Observant

_Second chapter…my first second chapter…Sorry about the formatting problems of the first one; I can't figure out how to double space…But anyway, thanks for reviewing and I hope you enjoy this!_

_Disclaimer: Don't own Teen Titans. Do own DVD of Spider-man 2. Finally._

Robin folded back the blankets, trying to make his movements smooth so as not to disrupt Star's slumber. He was having a hard time of it, however, as his hand was shaking somewhat violently. He didn't understand it; this was Starfire, for heaven's sake. His friend. His _best _friend. The one who was always there for him, without fail, no matter what. Why was he feeling so nervous about just…_checking _on her while she slept? Yeah, that was it. He was her friend, and her leader; he had a right to keep a diligent watch. This justification made him feel a little better about his impulsive action; however, his resolve faltered when he felt the back of his hand brush against something smooth as water…like satin…

Wait a minute…a little too much like satin. Robin pulled the rest of the comforter down to reveal – a pillow. An ivory satin pillow, lying lengthwise under the blankets. He stared at it for a moment, caught between annoyance, bewilderment, and worry.

"Robin?" He froze, his heart turning to lead and dropping to the pit of his stomach at the sound of the voice behind him. "Why have you become so fascinated with my pillow?"

Starfire. She had been awake, and out of her bed, the entire time. He turned slowly to face her, looking like a combination between a guilty thief and a fish out of water as he opened and closed his mouth silently at her. She sat on her padded window seat, wearing a long, royal-blue flannel nightgown. Thin white lace lined the neckline and the long sleeves, which flared a little at her wrists. It was a little big for her; he supposed Raven had lent it to her for the colder weather. The large, stretched-out v-neck was draped unevenly onto her delicate frame, revealing one smooth shoulder and half of her collarbone. He found himself having to tear his eyes away from the spot, choosing instead to focus on the violet drapes just over her bare shoulder. That particular color of blue on her, combined with the subtle shows of skin, did strange things to his heartbeat; and that scared him a little, especially since he had just been caught sneaking about her room in the middle of the night. He finally met her eyes, expecting suspicion and maybe even anger. What he found, however, was amusement. She giggled heartily, surprising him.

"Do not feel bad, Robin. I did not even know you were in here until a moment ago. So, you were not the only one lacking in observational skills."

He gave her a wry grin as he approached the window seat. "I still got it, then," he said with exaggerated bravado, sitting down next to her. "What are you doing up so late?"

"I am watching the snow, of course," she answered brightly, laying a slender hand lightly against the icy window and pressing her forehead up to the glass. The lights from the top of the tower illuminated thousands of gently falling snowflakes, swirling gracefully as a soft winter breeze stirred through the air. Starfire adored the snow. She said they didn't have it on Tameran; that the closest thing they had to snow was the annual dustfall. And that, she had assured him, was not nearly as pleasant to experience.

She turned from the window, raising a single, tiny eyebrow at him. "But I could ask you the same question, could I not? What in X'hal's name could bring you into my bedroom at this hour of the morning?"

Robin smiled sheepishly and produced his gift bag, which he had hidden behind his back the moment he heard Star's voice. "I'm playing Santa. You know, filling all of your stockings. It's kind of a tradition with us; I wanted it to be a surprise for you."

She looked at him strangely, seeming genuinely confused. "But, Robin…why do you creep into everyone's room at nighttime as if dependent on the cover of darkness? We all know Santa does not exist, so in the morning it would be obvious that you have filled our stockings overnight. You need not act in secret; would it not be easier to simply deliver your presents to us in daylight, without having to slink along the floor?"

He cringed; she had been awake longer than she had let on. He wondered if she had seen the exaggerated secret-agent moves he had thrown in to entertain himself. Blushing a little in embarrassment, he imagined her laughing silently by the window, watching as he rolled dramatically under the beam of the surveillance camera on her wall (which was disabled, anyway; the cameras in the Titan's bedrooms were only switched on during emergency situations).

"That's not the point, Star. Everyone knows it's me; in fact, the other three just leave their doors unlocked so I can get in," he explained, drawing one knee up to his chest and scratching at a scuff mark on the toe of his boot. "Sometimes, it's just fun to…_pretend_ you don't know that Santa isn't real. You know, to wake up on Christmas morning and have your stocking 'magically' full."

"But is was not by magic that my stocking was filled. I watched you fill it by hand."

"Yes, I know, but…even though we know better, we like to make believe that we don't. Sort of…escape, back into our childhood when we believed in things like magic."

Star looked thoughtful. She leaned back against the window, fingering the ends of her hair absently. She wore it in two loosely-braided pigtails, with a few soft, lightly-curled tendrils escaping around her face. Robin had never seen her hair that way, but he decided immediately that he liked it. Sometimes, all that hair, gorgeous as it was, obscured her face a little too much.

"So," she began. He could tell she was choosing her words carefully; an adorable little crease was appearing between her eyebrows, like it always did when she was thinking seriously about something. Or when she was worried about him. "So…you begin life believing in a myth of magic and sheer impossibility, and later dispel that myth as you reach maturity, only to regress back to it while still possessing the knowledge of its true unreality?"

Robin stared at her, understanding her confusion. "Uh…yes?" She giggled at his uncertainty, and he smiled. Star could turn the simplest things into mind-bending complexity. "I feel like it's important, to relive your childhood," he admitted wistfully. "Especially the team…they all had to grow up so fast. They need things like this."

"And you?"

"What?"

"What about you, Robin? We all had to take on a certain level of maturity at early ages, yes, but you…Robin, sometimes it seems that you were never a child at all."

He looked up. There it was; the line between her eyebrows. She was worrying again. What could he tell her? That the death of his parents squeezed the last ounce of childhood out of him? That Batman had expected him to act like an adult, and had treated him as one? That four precious lives, including hers, lay balanced in the palm of his hand every day, and that he couldn't afford to be just a 16-year-old kid?

He couldn't tell her that. She would be touched; she would be saddened; she might even cry for him, he knew. And he didn't want her crying for him. Star didn't need any more reasons to be anxious on his account.

"Who says I'm not a child?" he asked airily. She raised her eyebrow and half-grinned; it was her rare expression of sarcastic doubt. Rare, but still familiar; he had all of her expressions permanently catalogued in his mind. Acting on impulse, he grabbed a small purple quilted pillow from beside him on the window seat. With an immature cry of "Ha!" he whacked her in the shoulder with it, rolling off the window seat and ducking dramatically out of view. Slowly, he raised himself up until only the top of his head and his eyes were visible. After darting a few theatrical glances back and forth, he looked straight at her rather shocked face and waggled his eyebrows. "Pretty childish, huh?"

She laughed then, covering her mouth to stifle the jubilant sound. Then she narrowed her eyes a little and bit her lip, grinning (that was her 'sly idea' face; one of his favorites). She grabbed another pillow, rose up onto her knees on the seat, and slowly drew her arm back as if preparing to pitch a fastball…

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To be continued…(chapter stories are fun!)


	3. Let it Snow

_Wow, I'm kind of disappointed that so many of you figured out that Star wasn't in her bed…oh well…here's Chapter 3, and I hope you're liking this so far._

_Chapter 4 is loooooooooong….I'm not kidding. Could take awhile to type._

_Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans. And I can't think of anything clever to say right now…_

Robin thought that the great dustfall in Tameran was probably nothing compared to the enormous mess they'd made of Starfire's room. Fluffy white feathers littered nearly every inch of the carpet and the previously immaculate bed. A rose-colored seahorse lamp, originally one of Starfire's favorite possessions, lay in several pieces on the floor (Robin had knocked it over with his pillow, but when he'd tried to apologize Star had simply laughed and whacked him over the head again with _her _pillow). One of the curtains had been torn raggedly from its rod when Robin grasped it for balance. The plush toys in Star's stuffed animal collection were strewn all over the room, having been used as artillery after the pillows were destroyed. When two teenage superheroes of above-average strength and agility decided to have an impromptu pillow fight, damages were bound to be extensive.

Robin and Star lay sprawled on the floor, facing in opposite directions with their heads close to each other, both clutching the empty purple shells of Starfire's throw pillows. They had fallen that way, amidst a thick carpet of downy feathers, after Starfire had felled Robin with a killer blow to the backs of his knees (he assumed she had taken her cue from one of the martial arts maneuvers he had taught her). He'd gone down, his legs swept out from under him, and she'd followed soon after, collapsing due to uncontrollable laughter.

Robin couldn't remember ever laughing so much in his life. In fact, he couldn't remember laughing much at all before; he figured Starfire just brought it out in him. He chuckled softly, realizing anew that it was the middle of the night, and hoping that they had both managed to muffle their laughter enough so that no one would have heard them. Every so often, during the battle, they had paused and buried their faces in their pillows, attempting to stifle their giggling.

He rolled over onto his stomach and leaned on his elbow, looking fondly down at his fallen 'adversary,' who was lying with her legs bent to the side. One slender arm was thrown straight out, while the other lay across her stomach. She brought one hand to her chest, which was rapidly rising and falling with every pant of exertion. Hundreds of feathers stuck to the blue flannel of her nightgown, as well as in her hair. Her braids were in complete disarray, with nearly half of her hair falling our around her face in a wavy cloud. Her face glowed pink through her orange complexion, a thin sheen of sweat glistening a little on her skin. Her appearance was entirely chaotic; he thought she looked beautiful.

"You're a mess," he informed her, the warmth in his tone not quite matching the less-than-flattering statement. She snorted in mock indignation and rolled over as well, so that they were facing each other.

"You are not looking especially tidy, yourself," she observed with a grin, lowering her chin to rest on her crossed arms as she looked up at him. Her eyes looked tired, but they were shining so much they almost burned. Laugher always did that to her eyes; it deepened their color and got them sparkling like jewels. But Robin thought he had never seen her eyes look as beautiful as they did at that moment. He guessed it was because they were framed by those rosy cheeks and that wild hair; or maybe it was because she was so close to him. He found it hard to breathe, suddenly, with her looking right at him like that. Struggling, as he always did, against his alarming reaction to her, he told himself that his irregular breathing was from the exercise.

"Robin?" Uh oh. Had he forgotten to answer her? "Your mouth is hanging rather oddly. Did I injure you in any way?" The concern-line was back in her forehead, and he was disappointed to see her fire-lit eyes fill with remorse at the thought that she had hurt him. "I did try to avoid your face; but perhaps I have dislocated your jaw?"

He snapped his jaw shut, giving her what he hoped was a reassuring smile. "No, not at all, Star," he told her, moving his mouth into clownish expressions to demonstrate. She giggled, and the fire spilled back into her eyes. He sighed almost audibly, as if they were giving him physical warmth. Perfect.

Oh, boy. He had to act fast, or he would lose himself in her again. Abruptly, he fell backwards and lay on the floor. Smiling at her shocked expression, he began sliding his arms and legs back and forth through the blanket of feathers. Understandably, Star was a little confused.

"Robin?" He didn't answer; he just started singing "Walking in a Winter Wonderland" under his breath. "Robin, what are you doing?"

"Makin' snow angels…I mean, feather angels," he said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. He continued singing, moving his limbs in the rhythm of the song. When he got to the second verse, however, he started to forget the words.

"_Gone away…something something…in the lane…rhymes with bluebird…"_

Star was laughing again. "I cannot believe you are unable to remember the words. Beast Boy has been playing nothing but Christmas music on his stereo for two weeks. Even I have memorized them all by now."

Robin mock-glared at her. "I don't do a lot of singing, is all," he explained, sitting up carefully from his feather angel so as not to disturb the outline. "I'm…terrible at remembering songs." He blushed, realizing how infrequently he admitted to being terrible at anything.

Star grinned. "So _that _is why you never sing. I have always assumed you found singing to be 'uncool.'"

"It is," he insisted, still a little embarrassed. He stood up all the way, pointing down at the shape he'd made in the feathers on the carpet. Star gave a small delighted laugh.

"Oh, I see…angel," she said, nodding.

"You're supposed to do them in the snow," Robin explained. "It's a pointless thing, really…kids like to do them…"

"But not you; you are far to mature for things of such a trivial nature," Star said, smiling knowingly.

"Well, normally…yes," Robin agreed, looking a little surprised at himself. In the past hour, he'd started a pillow fight, started to sing for no reason, and made a snow angel in a layer of feathers – things that pretty much defined triviality. He couldn't figure out what was happening to him; it was as if he had temporarily picked up on Starfire's carefree enthusiasm and impulsiveness. In any case, he wasn't willing to relinquish this new side of himself; he was enjoying it too much. He began singing again, softly, but loud enough for her to hear.

"_Oh the weather outside is frightful…but the fire is…orange…"_ he sang, wanting to make her laugh again. She did, holding her stomach as it shook her body. He supposed all the laughing they'd done that night was starting to take its toll on her. _"But since we've no place to go_…take it, Starfire!"

"Take what?"

He chuckled. "The song. I meant take it over."

"Oh! Um…_Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!"_

"Whatever you say!" He grabbed a handful of feathers, throwing them into the air. They rained down on the teenagers, catching in their hair and on their clothes, swirling gently to the floor around them. _"Oh it doesn't…something, something…but I brought some…eggnog and…pretzels…when the lights are turned way down low…" _Robin flipped her main light switch, leaving only the faint glow of a bedside lamp, combined with the moonlight from outside her large window. He pointed at Starfire. "Let me hear it!"

"_Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!" _she sang, giggling as she spun around and around through the feather-snow.

"Dance solo!" Robin announced, gesturing at Star while humming the song in an upbeat swing rhythm. He continued to throw handfuls of feathers into the air, and she laughed in delight, holding her palms up to catch the 'snowflakes' as they fell around her. She continued to spin, her arms up over her head, sweeping around the room in wide circles. She stopped near Robin, who watched from the edge of the room while making the 'snow' for her. She swayed gently, bringing her arms down across her chest and holding her shoulders. Her eyes were closed and her face was tipped up; Robin smiled, thinking that she must be imagining that she was dancing in a real snowfall.

_She's so beautiful._

The thought came unbidden, and certainly unwanted. But now, as he watched her dancing in that baggy blue nightgown, feathers clinging to her messy red hair, her face illuminated by the moon and glowing with joyful mirth as she swayed…he couldn't get it out of his mind. He was so focused on it that he almost didn't hear her calling his name.

"Robin! Why do you not answer me?"

"Oh…I'm sorry, Star. What is it?"

"I said, it is your turn," she repeated, smiling as she dragged him to the center of the room.

"Oh, no way. I don't do dance solos."

Her face fell for a second, and then brightened again. "So dance with me," she offered, holding out her hand.

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_To be continued…sooner that last time, I promise. It's all written in my notebook, and everything. Plus, the next chapter is like twice as long as the others, so bonus for you. If Robin seems OOC…yeah, well, I can't really explain my reasoning for this. I think I'm tapping into the part of him I know exists, but that he doesn't show often. You know, like Star's assertiveness or Raven's need for acceptance. I feel that if anyone can bring it out of him, Star can. Plus, it's the middle of the night, and he's with someone he trusts. Perfect chance for him to let his guard down. But I don't need to justify myself…well, yes I do. I'm sort of insecure about this. Anyway I hope this didn't suck! Happy New Year!_


	4. A Little Closer

_Yay! It's Chapter 4! Thanks, to those of you who reviewed Ch. 3. I was really nervous about it. I am, of course, equally nervous about this chapter, in which things get a bit…dramatic. I'm looking to wrap the story up in 6 chapters now, but who knows where my romantic little heart will take me…_

_Oh, I'm assuming everyone who reads this has seen Date with Destiny. If not…Kitten was a villain's daughter who forced Robin to go to prom with her, and Star was…not thrilled. _

_I'm also assuming that Robin had a brother. I think I got this from Batman Forever. Forgive me if I'm wrong._

_Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans, but I do own one of those nifty tube scarves that you can stretch sideways over your shoulders into a shawl…magic, I'm telling you._

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Robin stopped breathing. He had to have heard her wrong. She couldn't be asking him to dance with her, in her room, in the middle of the night, with the moon shining down on them…he thought absently that he'd had a dream exactly like this once…maybe that's what was going on. A dream. He'd fallen asleep at ten while watching _Three's Company _reruns, and none of this was actually happening. Slowly, he raised his hand and pinched his upper arm. "Ow," he exclaimed dully, hardly aware of the pain through his delirium.

She was looking at him curiously, leaning forward with one tiny eyebrow raised expectantly. Vaguely, he became aware that she was waiting for an answer. He blinked rapidly, his eyes beginning to water from staring blankly at her, and tried to answer her. When he found that he was unable to use his voice, he acquiesced by gingerly taking her hand instead.

And then they stood, holding hands in the middle of Starfire's feather-covered room, doing nothing but looking at each other in silence. Star noticed his discomfort and smiled patiently.

"Are you not going to lead me now?"

"Huh?" She must be crazy. He could barely stand at the moment, let alone _lead _her. She was the one who still had her wits about her.

"Or at least provide us with music, as you did before. Otherwise, it would seem that we have no justifiable reason to dance, having no music. However…" she continued, her eyes sparkling through demurely lowered lashes, "I would find such a situation most disappointing. I…enjoyed dancing…"

She did?

"…with you."

With _him_? Robin glanced at her, and then looked at the floor in confusion. He'd figured she hadn't given the night of their dance a second thought. Sure, she'd been a bit…_aggressive _toward the girl who'd made him her unwilling prom date. But that was just because Kitten had been evil; just another villain that Star was trained to fight and to distrust. Plus, Star had always been rather possessive of him. He was her very first friend on Earth, and as such, he knew he was special to her. She never made any secret of her particular attachment to him. As a best friend. She was just very protective of her friends; that was all.

Through his hazy thoughts, he remembered that he was still standing in the middle of Star's room, holding her hand and saying nothing. Hastily, he began to hum, using the same melody as before and working it into a waltz rhythm. Then, finding his courage and balance, he spun her under his arm, caught her with his other hand just under her shoulder blades, and began waltzing with her in a box step automatically.

Star looked surprised, and she had every reason to be. Robin had never told anyone of his knowledge of ballroom dance; it wasn't something he went around bragging about. It was a part of his old life at Wayne Mansion that he'd been more than glad to leave behind him. Bruce had forced him to learn countless steps of varying degrees of complexity – he'd said they would improve his footwork and confidence in battle. Robin had, of course, explained that he would much rather jump off the roof. But Bruce could be pretty…_persuasive, _and despite his mortification, Robin had ended up doing the tango with his 70-year-old butler in the living room.

Robin hated to admit it, but although his athleticism and balance had evolved from his years of trapeze work with his family, much of the grace and fluidity of his fighting and his keen sense of his opponent's movements had come from the accursed dance training. But never, in all those hours of waltzing with Alfred, would he have imagined that the lessons would have such a pleasant result as this…

Star was catching on fast. He assumed Tameranian royalty had dances similar to this, because she was soon keeping up perfectly with his steps. He threw in a twirl or two, watching as the hair that had come loose from her braids flowed out and back around her face as she spun. Each time she spun back into him, he brought her a little closer. It was like a game: 'see how closely you can hold Starfire before she realizes what you're doing and kicks you out of her room.' She never seemed to notice, though. Or if she did, she didn't seem to care. Either way, he stopped the game when her body was still less than half an inch away from his. He didn't trust himself to pull her in any further. Already, he was losing track of himself; each time her hand squeezed his shoulder a little, or one of her fingers brushed against his neck, or her breath grazed his cheek, he missed a step...he would have had a time of it, explaining how one minute he was dancing as naturally as breathing, and the next he was treading on her feet. Luckily, he managed to catch himself each time before injuring her.

It was a long time before Robin realized that he wasn't humming anymore. She didn't look like she minded, though; her eyes were closed, and she was still keeping time with him, somehow. He eased them down to a back-and-forth kind of step, so they were really just shifting their weight rather than performing the formal steps. Without thinking, he moved their joined hands toward him until they rested against his chest. Her eyes shot open in surprise, but only for a moment; when he glanced at her again, they had drifted shut. And then…she turned her hand around in his, so that it lay directly over his heart with his on top of it.

Robin's stunned mind tried hard to justify her action…but he could barely hear his own thoughts over the blood pounding in his ears. He shifted her hand a little, positive that she could feel his heart beating out of his chest. What was she doing? 'Tameranian dance technique,' he thought vaguely, in a futile attempt to calm himself down.

This was different from their first dance. That had been someone else's prom, someone else's spotlight…more of a joke, than anything else. Both had spent most of the dance holding each other rather casually, laughing companionably over the strangeness of being elected king and queen of a high school prom, when they didn't even go to high school. Robin had, of course, found her arms around his neck to be quite exhilarating…but as always, the sensation had been shoved to the back of his mind, like all of the other feelings that arose from physical contact with Starfire.

Now, though…now, it was different. It _felt _different. This dance, in the semi-darkness, over the wreckage of their massive pillow war, with their imagined music…it had a completely new feeling of intimacy that was making Robin nervous, frustrated, and elated, all at the same time.

Soon, the dancing had devolved further, into plain swaying. His hand on her upper back had slid lazily down to her waist, and he still held one of her hands against his chest. Sneaking a glance at her, he noted that she looked…content. There really was no other word for it. Her eyes, glittering like green embers as they caught the dim lamplight, were half-lidded. Her cheeks were gently flushed, despite the lack of heat in the tower at night, and a soft smile rested on her lips.

"You look happy." It was Starfire talking.

Robin jumped. It was a bit of a shock to hear her speak, after almost an hour of intimate silence. "Do I?" he wondered aloud, bringing a hand to his face as if to check. Sure enough, a smile rather similar to Starfire's adorned his face, and the unfamiliar ache in his cheeks confirmed that it had been there nearly all night. No surprise – he _was _happy, after all. He supposed Star wouldn't have commented on it, had it been a common condition for him. But even if he did feel this happy often – which he didn't – it was rare for him to be so demonstrative of his emotions. "You look happy, too," he pointed out, almost defensively.

"I always look happy." Robin had to laugh; this was true enough. "But," she added, "I do not always _feel_ happy, as I do now." She blushed a little, and Robin realized that she'd unintentionally made two admissions in the same sentence: one, that she sometimes feigned happiness for the sake of her friends; and two, that she felt happy in his arms – or maybe she just liked dancing. All he knew was that his own rapture had nothing to do with dancing, and everything to do with holding her. He found that odd, when he thought about it, as he had never liked being close to people. But now, he found himself thinking that Star wasn't nearly close enough. Unconsciously, as that thought flitted through his mind, he pressed a little on her lower back, bringing her against his body. He thought he heard her inhale quickly, but other than that he saw no signs of protest.

_This is so surreal._

"Robin?" Her voice was softer than before.

"Mmm?"

"Why are you not happy more often?"

He considered the question for a moment. "I have other things to worry about."

"Other things?"

"This city, the people in it. The Titans." _You, _he thought desperately. "They're in danger, every moment."

She looked at him, with infinite kindness and patience. "You cannot protect them all."

"I can, Star. I have to."

She drew back a little, regarding him sadly. "You are just a boy, Robin. You do amazing things, every day; you save lives, and you keep our team together. But, you are just a boy. Why must you carry the entire world on your shoulders?"

He could hardly answer that question; too many painful issues involved. His obsession with protecting everyone and everything from the evils that lurked around each corner existed on several levels. He'd never stopped feeling that he could have done something to prevent the death of his family; getting rid of every psychopathic villain he came across would reduce the risk of any other child having to go through the same nightmare he had. On top of that, Batman had instilled in him a general distrust and paranoia, which served to fuel his tendency to always be on the verge of 'attack mode.' Layer by layer, the obsession was formed – every civilian he failed to save, every enemy that got away, collected in his mind as a guilty weight that never quite dissolved.

And then, another layer had been added – the Titans. His team, and his responsibility. First, there had been Raven – sullen and sarcastic, but one of the best people he'd ever met. It hadn't taken long for him to care for her deeply, as a sister. Then, Cy and Beast Boy. They were constantly getting on his nerves, but he loved them both, just as much as he had loved his own brother before his death.

And then, there had been Starfire, who had literally fallen from the sky into his world. Never, in Robin's entire life, had he ever encountered a person so incredibly easy to adore. She was so pure, so open, so unabashedly caring; and she'd chosen him as her best friend, deciding early on to bestow most of her precious attention on him. Out of all the Titans, she was really the only one who had his trust, completely and unconditionally.

But that didn't mean he was ready to answer her question; to show her he wasn't as strong and infallible as she believed he was. So, he took the easy way out.

"It's complicated. You wouldn't understand."

She stopped allowing herself to be swayed back and forth, going rigid in his arms. "I would not understand?" she repeated incredulously, her eyes narrowing as she looked down at him. He hadn't felt their height difference, until that moment. "Robin, I am not, as you say, 'street smart,' and perhaps there are many things I have yet to comprehend about this planet, but you are not one of these things. I understand _you,_ Robin. Sometimes I am sure that I understand you better than you understand yourself."

"You don't know anything." The instant the words left his mouth, he regretted them. He hadn't meant them the way they'd come out; he'd only meant that there were things she still didn't know about him. But she had gotten him agitated, with the cruel truthfulness of her words. That was how she always got to him; the way she saw straight into his soul. It was unnerving. And he'd been on edge, being so close to her for so long. No wonder he'd been set off so easily.

At his words, and the anger in his voice, Starfire jerked backwards as if she'd been slapped. She stood there a moment, the hurt on her beautiful features gripping his heart painfully. She took her hands back from him, and rested them, trembling, at her sides. She considered him for a moment, disappointment, dejection, and anger sparking in her eyes.

"No," she agreed, turning from him. "I suppose I do not know anything, after all. I do not wish to continue this illogical activity. Dancing without music is like… like… swimming without water. Or friendship without trust," she added, her eyes flashing with rare triumphant retribution as she looked back at him. "It simply does not work. Goodnight, Robin."

She started back toward her bed – but she never made it that far. A hand seized hers and dragged her back, until she was pulled up against the solid warmth of Robin's body. She struggled against him for a moment, but she soon found herself placing her arms around his neck and smothering the beginnings of her tears in his shoulder. He leaned into her, humming softly in her ear. She sighed, and couldn't stop her smile. He was humming _Hey Jude, _her favorite song since discovering Beast Boy's Beatles record the month before. She started to sway again, finding comfort in the soft strength of his hold on her, and in the gentleness of his slightly off-pitch voice. After two verses, he stopped and spoke in a tender, apologetic whisper into her ear.

"I do trust you," he said, tightening his arms around her as if to reassure her. She made a small sound, and for a moment he thought that maybe he'd squeezed too hard – but then she wrapped her arms further around his neck, bringing them closer together. Her nearness terrified him; but he drew a strange sort of courage from it, as well. With her back in his arms, he was brave enough…

And as they swayed to no music at all in the patch of moonlight from the window, Robin told her everything…

---------------------------------------------------

_To be continued…_

_Hm…not sure how I feel about all of _that_ nonsense. 1000 words longer than my last chapter, though…so that's pretty good…ugh, it's horrible, isn't it? I'm going downhill, or something. Next chapter, it's back to fluffiness and nothing else. I'm sick of trying to write conflict. I should be taken out and shot, really._


	5. Good Morning

_Sorry about the holdup…as I write this, I should actually be writing a history essay comparing Arthur Miller's _The Crucible_ with the McCarthy communist witchhunts. I guess what I'm saying is: thank you (lol). I'm thinking just one chapter after this one._

_I can't tell you how great your reviews of Ch. 4 made me feel. Thank you so much for reading and being supportive._

_I'm sorry, but…I will not be recounting Star and Robin's conversation. readers throw rocks Hey, it's between them, ok? Besides, you already know what he said. Everything he was thinking…well, except for being in love with her. But he doesn't even understand that himself, really._

_Sindra, if you're reading this… just don't tell anyone else about this account, ok?_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans. And after all the procrastinating I've done, I probably don't own an A average anymore, either…_

_

* * *

_

"Merry Christmas."

Robin's mildly amused voice, though barely a whisper, could be heard easily in the stillness of Starfire's room.

"What?" Star lifted her head from the crook of his neck and looked at him, disoriented.

Robin smiled; she didn't realize how much time had passed. After his conversation with Starfire, which had actually just consisted of him talking and her listening, they had settled into easy silence again. Starfire had done nothing but accept everything he told her, with that look of infinite understanding in her heartbreakingly-beautiful eyes. She'd hugged him tightly, forgiving him without words for every time his blind determination had lead him to act rashly, or to cause harm to others…or to cast her aside. Everything had been lifted, all at once – she had taken the weight off of his shoulders, at least for a while. As he'd started debating whether or not it would be taking advantage of the situation to let Starfire continue hugging him that way, he'd happened to glance at the clock, trying not to move too much from his comfortable position against Star's shoulder.

Just as he'd suspected: past midnight. Two hours past, in fact. This realization had been the cause of his seemingly random holiday greeting; he'd only wanted to be the first to wish his favorite alien girl a merry Christmas.

He pointed to the clock, and she gasped. "Robin…we have been dancing for nearly four hours."

"Now that's not true…" Robin corrected, grinning. "We've been talking, destroying your room, playing in fake snow, _and _dancing for nearly four hours." She giggled, and both seemed unsure for a moment whether to be amused or embarrassed. Robin pulled back from her a little, clearing his throat. "More importantly," he began, forming an obviously false stern expression and narrowing his eyes at her. "You've given me reason to believe that you are not really Teen Titan material."

She gasped. "Robin…?" she said in a shocked whisper.

He nodded solemnly. "Yes," he said, "I'm afraid so. You've been officially awake for two entire hours on Christmas morning, and instead of opening presents, you've been dancing with your boss." He shook his head. "Cy and Beast Boy would be so very disappointed in you."

Her mouth dropped open and she made a sharp indignant sound, realizing that he was playing with her. Then she broke into an adorable, sly grin, and laughed.

"I may be forgiven, Robin, for my _appalling _breach of Titan protocol, because…" she leaned in, as if preparing to divulge a shocking secret, and whispered near his ear. "…I have been working 'under the cover,' and I believe that I now have an 'in' with Santa Claus." She drew back, smiling serenely at him for a moment before bursting into peals of laughter.

Robin stared at her, and then began to laugh with her. Starfire was endlessly surprising. These bursts of intentional humor, and even sassiness, never ceased to amaze him coming from a girl who was pretty much the embodiment of innocence. Not only had she told a joke, but the way she'd leaned in towards him…if she had been anyone except Starfire, he'd have sworn she was flirting with him. Which would have been… nice. Well, more than nice. Mentally shaking himself out of his preposterously optimistic reverie, he resumed his serious expression and continued the game.

"Luckily for you, there's still time to redeem yourself," he told her lightly, smiling as she stifled a giggle. "Unless, of course, you'd rather go to bed – sleep." Blushing, he realized that he needn't have made the hasty amendment; Starfire certainly hadn't made the same connection he had.

Quickly, he disentangled himself from her and left the center of the room, where they'd been for over two hours. Immediately feeling the absence of her warmth, he automatically hugged his own arms around his body to make up for it. After such a long time holding her, it felt strange to be on his own again; his arms felt uncomfortably empty, and he felt the cold in the room with a new keenness. Glancing back at her, he saw with concern that she was shivering as well, and rubbing her arms to generate warmth. He stooped to retrieve her stocking from the foot of her bed, took out a tightly rolled bundle, and moved towards her window, gesturing for her to follow him. He settled on the floor, and as she sat beside him he draped a soft, mint-green and lavender quilt around her shoulders. She looked at him questioningly, and he beamed with pride.

"I decided you needed your first present right away," he explained. "I made it myself."

Her disbelieving smirk caused him to laugh out loud. Starfire knew him, all right.

"Alright, I _had _it made myself," he corrected with a sheepish grin. "It's nearly the same thing. It's from the team; all of us, I mean. We realized we never really got to welcome you officially and…well…" he gently turned the quilt around on her, so that she could see the center square, which had a simple message embroidered onto the green flannel in magenta thread:

_We're grateful you're with us, Starfire. Welcome to the family!_

It wasn't really much; but to Starfire, it was overwhelming.

"Oh, Robin…thank you…I must thank all of them…this is the most wonderful gift…"

"Hey, now." He grinned embarrassedly, pleased by her strong reaction, as the quilt had been his idea. "Don't go spending all of your energy on it; you still haven't seen the rest of your stuff." He placed the overflowing stocking in front of her, feeling his heart skip three beats as her face lit up in gorgeous amazement.

"All of this…for me? Did you bring as many gifts to everyone?"

"Well…" The truth was, he had just kept spotting things that would be perfect for Starfire, and before long, her stocking had ended up fuller than the others. He'd tried to make up for it by stuffing the bottom of each of the other stockings with tootsie rolls and miniature Snickers bars… but he had a feeling Raven wouldn't go for that as easily and Cyborg and Beast Boy would.

Watching her face, lit up by the dim glow of the moon and framed by the view of softly falling snow through the window behind her, cozy in her quilt, her eyes shining with joy and eagerness…he realized they only needed one thing to make this moment complete.

"Wait!" he ordered, just as her hand was an inch from the opening of her stocking. She gave a little 'humph!' of protest and settled back on her heels, looking a little annoyed.

"What is the matter?"

"You can't open that."

Her annoyance dissolved in an instant, replaced by comprehension and concern. "Of course not! The others are not here! How could I have been so—"

"No, it isn't that."

She cocked her head. "It is not? But…will they not be angry, when they realize we have begun the celebration early?"

He waved his hand dismissively. "Nah. Cy and Beast Boy will be up in a few hours, anyway. They usually can't resist going through their stockings before Raven even leaves her room. Plus, we've got other presents to open together; under the tree in the common room, remember?"

"Yes!" she exclaimed happily. "That is where I placed _my _presents."

He smiled fondly, remembering the group of awkwardly-wrapped, oddly-shaped purple packages covered in multitudes of bows that had appeared under the tree earlier that week.

"So," he continued, "there should be no problem opening your stocking with just me here. I couldn't go back to bed now, anyway," he reasoned, hoping his blush wasn't giving away the true cause of his over-excitement. "However, I wouldn't think of letting you open your first Christmas presents without…the traditional Christmas coffee cake!"

She rolled her eyes, smiling wryly. "_X'hal_, Robin! You and your traditions."

"Hey, without traditions, society as we know it would deteriorate!" he insisted, laughing. "But seriously, it isn't Christmas without my famous coffee cake."

"That seems terribly egotistical of you, does it not?" she teased, her grin widening.

"Well, I supposed it's not really mine. I bake it, but it's actually Alfred's recipe." He lowered his voice. "But Cy and Beast Boy don't know that…they think I'm a culinary _god._"

She giggled. "I would love to taste this confection of yours, especially if it is so crucially ingrained into your holiday traditions. But do you truly feel like baking at this hour?"

"What are you, nuts? I made it last night. I don't cook it on Christmas morning anymore; I learned my lesson after last year…BB and Cy hanging over my shoulder like hungry dogs while I tried to measure the ingredients… in fact, I think Beast Boy actually _became _a hungry dog and drooled in the cinnamon…" He smiled, remembering the scene. "Wait right here, Star, I'll bring you some. And don't even _think _about starting in on those presents without me."

Her adorably impatient pout just made him laugh as he left her room for the kitchen.

* * *

"Ok, are you ready for this?"

Star sighed. "Robin, you have asked me that question three times already. How could a pastry possibly require such extensive preparation?"

He had placed the dish of cake in front of her, and was holding the spoon hostage as she made desperate grabs for it. "I just think you may be underestimating Alfred's cooking. He's the one who fed me so well while I was living at the mansion."

Eying his thin, wiry frame, Starfire raised an eyebrow.

"I have a fast metabolism, alright? Just know that this coffee cake is the most delicious, most scrumptious, most mouth-watering—"

"Oh, for heaven's sake!" Giving up on the fork he refused to give to her, Starfire simply lifted the plate to her face and took a large bite. "There, now are you…"

After she had swallowed the bite, her eyes glazed over and her jaw slackened. "Oh…_ my," _she sighed emphatically, gazing in wonder at the confection.

"Easy, Star, you don't want to…" The slice was gone with three bites. "…get a stomachache, or anything… how do you do that?"

"Do what?" she asked casually, dabbing her mouth daintily with a napkin.

"Nothing…" he answered, smiling and shaking his head. "So I take it you liked it?"

"Oh, _very _much! I thank you, Robin. I feel as if I am being positively… oh, what is the word… 'spoiled,' yes?"

"Yes," he agreed with a grin. "You're supposed to feel spoiled on Christmas."

"Well, as long as I am given the chance to 'spoil' you, as well," she said with a giggle.

Robin's mind produced several suggestions in response to this, which he immediately suppressed with a violent blush. What was _wrong _with him tonight? "Alright, Star, you can look at your presents now."

"There are no further 'traditions' we must first honor?"

He shook his head, chuckling as she seized the stocking and dumped its contents onto the floor. She then proceeded to sort through the gifts, one by one, receiving each with equal enthusiasm and pleasure. After each astonished gasp and jubilant squeal of delight, Robin marveled at the sheer energy Starfire put into her gratitude. Her reactions made him feel that she undeniably deserved the extra presents.

"Oh, _Robin! _It is _Breakfast at Tiffany's! _I thank you wholeheartedly! How did you know it was my favorite?"

Robin had noticed her watching it one day on television; he had never seen anyone so entranced by a movie before. She had never noticed him, but he'd watched from the window as she'd cried joyfully at the end, heaved a sigh, and exclaimed, 'Holly Golightly has finally learned the importance of love!' He didn't think he'd ever seen anything so adorable. "Lucky guess," he told her, hoping it was a passable explanation. Thankfully, she seemed to accept it.

Finally, she came to the ornament. She picked it up carefully, fingering the smooth white satin of the beautiful angel's gown and gazing in wonder at the delicate golden halo. "Oh… how marvelously pretty…" she gushed, turning the ornament gently in her hands and examining it appreciatively from each angle.

"It's a Titan tradition," Robin explained, laughing as she groaned at the word. "Everyone's got an ornament for the tree, to hang every year."

She was holding the angel up to her lamp, watching the silver thread in the dress glimmer in the light. "Am I to hang the tiny angel by her circular crown?"

"No, yours doesn't hang; we'll set it on the top," he told her, pointing out the hollow space under the skirt.

"But… why should mine be on top, when the ornaments of the others are hanging on the branches?"

"Um…" Oh, he was trapped now. "Because… the angel always goes on top?"

"Oh…" She didn't look entirely satisfied with his answer, but she allowed it to pass, peering absently into the emptied stocking. "Oh, look! I have missed one!" she cried happily, digging down to the bottom and retrieving a long, blue scarf.

Robin had bought one for each of his teammates, in different colors. He was surprised to see that the blue one was in Star's stocking. That meant… He snickered, imagining Raven's face when she saw a baby pink scarf in her stocking the next morning. He was about to alert Star to the mix-up, when he noticed something: the deep, royal blue of the scarf was the exact same color as her borrowed nightgown… the blue that seemed to brighten the fiery red of her hair, and deepen her bottle-green eyes to a rich emerald. He decided that Raven would have to live with owning a pink scarf; he wasn't going to pass up the chance of seeing Starfire in that color again.

She cooed happily as she felt the soft fleece, bringing it to her face and rubbing it against her cheek. "Oh, it is wonderful! What is it?"

Robin was surprised, at first, that she had to ask. It was easy to forget sometimes that Star hadn't been on Earth during winter before. "It's a scarf… Here, let's try it on you, shall we?" She nodded, holding still obediently as he placed the scarf around her neck and over her shoulders. He wound it gently around her neck a few times, reaching behind her to move her hair out of the way. And suddenly, due to poor planning and extreme lack of foresight on Robin's part, he was leaning very close to Starfire's face with his hands resting on her shoulders. And she was looking right at him, paralyzing him with those breathtaking eyes.

Robin had often found himself in situations like this before. When an extremely touchy-feely, very enthusiastic, physically exuberant alien is your best friend, you're bound to end up in awkward positions. In such cases, an argument would always take place inside of him, between 'Rational Robin' and 'Impulsive Robin.' Impulsive Robin would shout about how badly he wanted to kiss Star, while Rational Robin would clamp a hand over Impulsive Robin's mouth and scold him for even thinking such a thing. Thus, a potentially disastrous event had been repeatedly thwarted. Robin would always stop himself just as he was about to lean in for a kiss, make a barely-intelligible excuse for his behavior, and run off before he lost control of himself.

However, right at that moment, the system didn't seem to be working. Robin listened for his rational side to tell him to stop leaning toward her, but… it appeared that it was past Rational Robin's bedtime. All he heard was the wind brushing past the window, his breathing combined with hers, and the sound of his heart pounding at a frightening rate… and as he leaned closer, closing his eyes, there was nothing stopping him this time…

* * *

_And now for the 3 worst words you could hear right now… 'to be continued…"_

_(giggles) I'm so sorry about that... I love you guys, I really do…but I just couldn't resist it. Well, I'm pretty happy with the way this is going, now. I had a lot of fun writing this chapter. I'm anticipating one chapter after this, so it's almost over. Thanks for making my first chapter fic so much fun for me!_


	6. Misunderstanding

_Hi, guys! Did you miss me?_

_(Dodges rocks thrown by readers)_

_Yes, well...(ahem)... sorry. I would never have done the cliffhanger thing if I'd known how long it was going to take to write again. I did get some good reviews, though, including a constructive comment that I appreciated, though it made me a bit disappointed in myself. Am I really bad at Star's speech? I knew I was slacking on the formality and the confused grammar a bit... but, the thing is, I got tired of her sounding confused all the time, and decided she'd picked up a few idioms by now. And that's my excuse. I feel like I recovered a little in Ch. 5, but... oh well. Thanks for the advice, **Cat o'theWind**._ _Also in response to **Natasha, **about X'Hal: it's ok, I only meant it as an exclamation, anyway ("goodness, Robin!"). If X'Hal isn't the Tameranian goddess, as I've been told,, the word has served its purpose to me anyway. Thanks, though. And don't ever be afraid to correct me; I'm not an expert._

_I've written you a nice, short chapter resolving that awful cliffie I left you with. Enjoy!_

_Disclaimer: Don't own Teen Titans. Lost cell phone that rang like Titans' communicator. Very sad about it (sniff). Also, I seem to have misplaced my pants. You think I'm kidding... if only that were so..._

* * *

Robin's head was spinning. It was rather confusing, the way everything in him was speeding up into a blur, but time seemed to be slowing down anyway. She wasn't moving; at least, he didn't feel her move; he couldn't actually see her, as his eyes had closed. Was she really going to just... let him do it? Was she really sitting their, waiting for him to kiss her?

He felt his nose collide gently with hers, and shivered a little at the contact. _Almost there_... and then, as if to convince himself yet again that he wasn't dreaming, Robin forced his eyes open to take a last glance–

–and met her eyes. Still open. Very, very wide.Her mouth had dropped open slightly, and she had nearly gone cross-eyed from watching him. She looked horribly alarmed; and, to his dismay, he noticed that she was visibly shaking.

Cursing under his breath, he yanked his hands off of her and fell backward, covering his eyes with the heels of his hands as if he had seen something he wasn't supposed to. Sliding hastily away from her, he muttered continuously under his breath, though only every other word ended up being intelligible.

"Sorry... what was I... _idiot_... the scarf... I didn't... _oh, man..._ I don't... you... I..."

"Robin?"

"You must think... so sorry... never meant..."

"Robin?"

Now he wasn't even making sense. An endless, apologetic stream of muffled sounds issued from his mouth as he hunched over and held his hand over his eyes, massaging his temples wearily.

"_Robin."_

She hadn't yelled, but something about her tone made him straighten and look at her. He had scooted about three feet away, but she hadn't moved. She sat back on her heels, playing with the ends of her scarf in her lap, her head tilted to the left very slightly as she looked at him. What was that in her eyes? Concern? Puzzlement? Maybe... disappointment? What had happened to the shock and revulsion?

"Robin, why 'on the Earth' do you look so miserable?"

Had it been a normal day, he would have corrected her use of the extraneous article in that sentence. However, he felt that there were more pressing matters at hand than Starfire's grasp of idiomatic English. "I... aren't you angry? Or uncomfortable? Or something?"

"I am... well, I..." He thought he saw her face turn sad, but very briefly. "It is unimportant. But something is the matter with you, is it not? Please, tell me what is wrong, and perhaps I can help."

He would have laughed, if he was capable of it. "After that... you're being... nice?"

She looked thoroughly confused. "Of course. Is there a particular reason why I should not be? You are my best friend."

She had to add that last part, of course. Now Robin was baffled _and _heartbroken.

"After all," she continued, with only a hint of awkwardness, "it is hardly cause for hostility that you elected to... change your mind," she explained, her kind smile wavering a bit as she looked at the floor.

"Change my mind?" Now _that_ was an odd thing to say. "Star, I don't think you quite... do you know what just–"

"You were about to kiss me," she stated simply. She didn't even blush, as Robin did. She simply continued to stare at the floor, as if resigning herself to something.

Robin was floored. "You know about...?"

"Of course. As I believe the phrase goes, I was not born today... or yesterday...or..." She wrinkled her nose in frustration. "I was born a significant amount of time ago. I am rather new to this planet, Robin, but I notice much; my eyes are open."

He winced at her choice of words, but she didn't seem to notice.

"In any case," she continued, assuming a rather businesslike manner, "I understand that you changed your mind before you had completed the action. I do not doubt that you were simply... 'caught within the moment,'" she reasoned, with a strange edge to her voice. She sounded almost... bitter.

But what was she talking about? She spoke as if_he _had been the one who didn't want the kiss to happen, rather than the other way around.

"I will not hold this against you in any way, Robin. I am not... I am not offended..." But she did _look_ offended, no matter how hard she tried not to. And it was filling him with a sudden hope.

"Star, you think I...? But you... you looked so scared."

"I was," she answered truthfully. "Perhaps not in the way I am scared of monster movies and spiders, however... it was strange... I did not really know what to do. But the fear was not... unpleasant."

Robin's heart started up again when he heard her admission. He was completely thrown. How could she be so honest? How could she be so open? And most of all, how could she believe for a second that he didn't want to take her into his arms and kiss her senseless? "Star, I thought..."

"You do not need to try to justify yourself to me, Robin. I understand."

He moved closer, reaching for her hand. "No, Star, you–"

She shrank away from him. "Please, Robin, this is hard enough!" Finally, her composure faltered, and her easy, analytical honesty was replaced by unmistakable desperation. "I am rather humiliated, and I am feeling that further discussion shall only make it worse. Please, do not," she said, raising a hand and stopping him just as he opened his mouth to interrupt. She sighed, realizing how harshly her voice had come out. She continued, rambling hastily, her face crumpled in clear despair. "You have given me a lovely Christmas, and I had no right to expect... Neither of us is thinking very lucidly... It is very late, and you are tired; you have not been sleeping as much as you should be, and I do not think you have been eating enough either; you should rest. I shall assemble the ingredients for the Tameranian insomnia-curing broth. Have we any ginger root? I believe it will be sufficient, as it is fundamentally the same as the _urslaf _root,  
which--"

Robin never got to hear the beneficial properties of the _urslaf _root, because he had seized the back of her neck and pressed his mouth over hers. She squeaked rather adorably in surprise, and he laughed against her lips. It was a quick, fierce kiss; he pulled away before she'd had a chance to close her eyes, looking happily bewildered, as if he could hardly believe himself.

She stared, her eyes round as saucers, and brought two of her fingers slowly up to her lips. She smiled, green flames flickering through her eyes - and now he knew for sure that the fire in her glance was meant only for him.

"Oh," she said dazedly, which made Robin laugh. He reached out, cupping her face gently with his palm, and she covered his hand with hers leaned into it with a contented sigh. Sliding his other hand back, brushing over her ear (she giggled when he did that), and landing at the base of her neck, he drew her in to kiss her again - just because he could. It was slower, now. He had time to feel the softness of her lips, and the jolts of electricity as her hand moved slowly up his chest to his shoulder. He had time to savor her... and he noted with a little amusement that she tasted like cinnamon, from the coffee cake. He moved his fingers gently through the loosened tufts of hair at her nape, and found that his other hand was unconsciously grasping one of her braids. She made a sound almost like a purr, and fell into him, clinging around his neck with both arms. He caught her against him, with an arm looped around her waist, and leaned back against the footboard of the bed.

It was half an hour before they could bring themselves to stop for a rest.

"Robin?" She was leaning against him, her head on his chest, as he reclined against her footboard.

"Yeah?" he answered lazily, gazing fondly down at her messy hair, which was incidentally a great deal more disheveled than it had been.

"Do you wish to sleep?"

He thought about it. They had about three hours before the guys would wake up. They could either spend them sleeping, or...

Instead of answering her, he ducked his head down to hers and captured her lips again.

* * *

_To be continued... believe it or not! There's still more I wanna do with this. We have to get to the next morning, don't we?_

_There now, you see? I told you I wouldn't leave you with nothing._ _Satisfied? Oh, and no, you perverts, they didn't sleep together. But we'll cover that in the next chapter._


	7. Inevitable

_And now, a ridiculously late update. I didn't feel too bad about making you wait, since I felt like the last chapter was rounded off nicely (no cliffhanger, and all). I think I'm going to enjoy writing this one the most, even though it's really just an epilogue. It's been so great writing this, and I'm sorry about going a month after Christmas (let's just pretend, k?) _

_This chapter is meaningless. It has no purpose, except to amuse me._

_I love my reviewers! Almost 200 reviews… it almost makes me cry. I'll miss you guys!_

_Disclaimer: Don't own TT. Can't wait for "Quest." No one looks hotter in that outfit than Robin does._

* * *

Sunlight was already streaming through the panoramic windows of the tower when Beast Boy and Cyborg came tearing into the living room clutching their empty stockings, arms filled with gifts and miniature Snickers bars.

"Dude, _candy." _Beast Boy had two bars in his mouth already, and was attempting to unwrap another without releasing his armful of presents.

"Just put them down, B," smirked Cyborg. Hearing a giggle from over near the television, he turned and noticed for the first time that Starfire was watching them over the back of the sofa.

"Friends, I have been waiting to express my thankfulness for the lovely quilt!" she cried, holding it up from her lap so that they could see it. Cyborg grinned modestly, but Beast Boy didn't even look up.

"Dude… _candy…"_

Star giggled. "Robin shall be thrilled that his offerings are being appreciated," she said happily. Turning around briefly, she aimed the remote and paused the movie that had been playing. "He was very concerned that you would not be satisfied," she explained, tossing her hair over her shoulder and leaning comfortably over the couch cushions. Her blue nightgown still drooped over a shoulder on one side, the area hidden slightly by her now-loose hair, which was curled and kinked from being in braids. Draped around her slender neck, she wore a long, blue fleece scarf.

Cyborg raised an eyebrow. "You talked to him this morning? Usually he sleeps in on Christmas, since he's up for so long the night before… Rob gave you a blue scarf?"

She colored slightly and smiled. "I like this color. Yours is nice," she complimented, pointing to the cobalt-and-gray plaid scarf that Cyborg had draped around his shoulders.

"Thanks! I don't really need it, not having actual skin on my neck to keep warm, but… you know, Robin and his traditions."

"I know indeed," Star said, smiling in a strangely mysterious way. Cyborg was a little perplexed; when he looked questioningly at Beast Boy, however, he was obliviously gnawing on a candy cane while playing with his new Hot Wheels car, verbally making engine noises. Cyborg shook his head and looked back at Star.

"So, wanna go wake up Robin? Let him know breakfast will be ready in about fifteen minutes?"

She laughed hysterically then. He had to wait a good while before she was able to calm herself down.

"Robin… will not be in his room." As soon as she had forced the sentence out, she was lost in laughter again.

Cyborg was agitated. "Not in his room? Well, where is he? He knew he didn't have to get up today; we get his breakfast today…"

"He is not in his room," she explained, "because he is in the kitchen, preparing the waffles of the chocolate chips." Cyborg's confusion caused another peal of impish laughter.

"But… he doesn't have to do that… unless…"

"Unless he is caught, yes," Starfire agreed gleefully. "I have been informed of the terms."

"But that's impossible… he wouldn't be…he's never been…"

"First time for everything," said Robin cheerfully, entering the living room with a plate of waffles garnished with fruit in each hand. He gave the first one to Starfire, and Cyborg was so bewildered that he completely missed Robin's hand affectionately brushing Star's bangs out of her face. Robin then turned to the two boys, giving the other plate to Cyborg. "Even I have to lose sometime." But he was grinning, as if nothing could make him happier..

Cyborg gaped. "The cameras… I checked the cameras…"

"Well I wouldn't be on the cameras, would I? The cameras in Star's room are deactivated. Want some syrup?"

Cyborg just stared at him. "Star's… room…"

"Yeah, she got me. Clever of her, wasn't it?" He looked at her with exaggerated pride and she giggled, swatting his shoulder playfully.

"I should not receive so much credit. It was not overly difficult," Star quipped, earning a playful shove in return from Robin, who was trying to look offended.

Cyborg was eyeing them with furrowed brows. "What are you both doing up so early, anyway?"

"Watching a movie," answered Robin, cutting a small piece off of Starfire's waffle and feeding it to her. Cyborg glanced at the screen, and his eyes widened.

"Audrey Hepburn, Robin? _Audrey Hepburn!"_

Robin shrugged. "_Breakfast at Tiffany's _is a great movie, Cy."

"But… you must have had to start it before six this morning…"

"That was pretty easy. Neither of us went to sleep last night," explained Robin conversationally, taking a bite out of the strawberry that Starfire was holding up to his lips. At that statement, even Beast Boy looked up from his new walkman, his jaw hanging open. Cyborg looked from one to the other, seeming to realize for the first time that Robin was playing with a strand of her hair, and she was wiping strawberry juice from the corner of his mouth with her thumb.

"What is going _on_!"

"No need to shout, Cyborg" said Raven reproachfully as she came through the doors. She held her stocking to one side, every item neatly replaced. Every item, that is, except for one.

"Robin," she began, her tone eerily calm. _"What _do you call this?"

She was holding out the scarf.

For the first time that morning, Robin's comfortable demeanor faltered for a moment. Starfire was looking a little nervous; she removed her scarf hastily, stuffing it between her knees and hiding it with her hands.

"I call that a scarf," answered Robin.

"A scarf. And what color is the scarf?"

"It's pink," he sighed, meeting her eyes and smiling apologetically.

"I see. And do you have a good reason for giving me a pink scarf?"

"Yes."

"Are you going to tell me what it is?"

"…No."

She studied him for a moment. "Alright then," she said lightly. She unfolded the scarf, tossing it rakishly about her neck. Beast Boy was staring at her as if she'd just caught fire. "What?" she said defensively, a ghost of a grin on her face. "It's Christmas, isn't it?"

Cyborg was staring at them all desperately. "Have you all lost your minds?"

"Where's your ornament?" Raven asked Starfire, choosing to ignore him. Beaming, Star reached over to the table beside her and took the beautiful angel, admiring how the red cascades of hair caught the morning sunlight. Suddenly, the angel was incased in glowing black light, and gently rose up and settled over the tuft of branches at the top of the tree. With a tiny smile of satisfaction and a knowing glance between the suspiciously close Star and Robin, Raven glided into the kitchen, claiming one of the three remaining plates of waffles and taking a dainty bite.

Cyborg and Beast Boy were not losing interest quite as easily as Raven had. Stockings forgotten, they were both observing Robin and Star through narrowed eyes.

"Robin…" Cyborg began. "About last night... in Star's room… well, it's not what I think it is, right?"

"No, definitely not." He was looking highly amused that Cyborg could even think such a thing. Starfire, of course, didn't quite understand what was being implied, so she was giggling at the apprehensive look on Beast Boy's face instead.

Cyborg went on, visibly relieved. "But… you and Star…"

"Yeah. Me and Star." He glanced at her adoringly, and she giggled and rumpled his hair. Beast Boy uttered a shocked, wordless sound, and thereafter was rendered speechless.

"So…" Cyborg continued, smiling slightly now. "You gonna tell me what _actually_ happened?"

Robin and Starfire looked at each other, smiling softly. "No," answered Robin.

Cyborg chuckled. "Guess it doesn't matter, does it? It was bound to happen… Raven always said you guys were preordained."

Rather than being embarrassed, they both looked rather pleased at the news.

"In fact," said Cyborg, "she always said it was _so _inevitable, that one morning we would wake up and find you already together…" he trailed off, bemused. "Guess I never figured she meant _literally…" _Shaking his head in amusement, he took his plate of waffles to the kitchen and set them at the counter next to Raven's, opening the fridge to get the orange juice.

Beast Boy, who had yet to utter a word since his initial shock, got shakily to his feet, eyeing Robin and Star with fascination. He seemed to be fighting an inner battle, trying to decide between prying into this new development and answering the call of his waffles from the kitchen. Soon, his stomach won out over his curiosity. He bolted to the kitchen, seized a plate, and downed half a waffle in one bite.

Robin chuckled and looped his arms around Starfire, who placed her breakfast plate on the coffee table and leaned backwards against him. "So," she sighed dreamily, "You and I… we were 'inevitable,' yes?"

"Yeah," agreed Robin. "Inescapable. And so is this," he added with a mischievous grin as he shifted his hands to her stomach and tickled her ribs. She squealed and tackled him to the floor. Neither one heard Beast Boy's anguished cry from the kitchen:

"DUDES! Who ate all the coffee cake!"

THE END

* * *

_lol… this ending was pure nonsense. But that's ok; it's what I was going for. It was fun to work with the other Titans again after only having Robin and Star for so long. Anyway, let me know what you thought! I love you guys, and hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it!_


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